Sensor technologies can make a significant impact on the detection of aircraft-generated vortices in an air space of interest, typically in the approach or departure corridor. Current state-of-the art sensor technologies do not provide three-dimensional measurements needed for an operational system or even for wake vortex modeling to advance the understanding of vortex behavior. Most wake vortex sensor systems used today have been developed only for research applications and lack the reliability needed for continuous operation. The main challenges for the development of an operational sensor system are reliability, all-weather operation, and spatial coverage. Such a sensor has been sought for a period of last forty years. Acoustic sensors were first proposed and tested by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) early in 1970s for tracking wake vortices but these acoustic sensors suffered from high levels of ambient noise. Over a period of the last fifteen years, there has been renewed interest in studying noise generated by aircraft wake vortices, both numerically and experimentally. The German Aerospace Center (DLR) was the first to propose the application of a phased microphone array for the investigation of the noise sources of wake vortices. The concept was first demonstrated at Berlins Airport Schoenefeld in 2000. A second test was conducted in Tarbes, France, in 2002, where phased microphone arrays were applied to study the wake vortex noise of an Airbus 340. Similarly, microphone phased arrays and other opto-acoustic microphones were evaluated in a field test at the Denver International Airport in 2003. For the Tarbes and Denver tests, the wake trajectories of phased microphone arrays and lidar were compared as these were installed side by side. Due to a built-in pressure equalization vent these microphones were not suitable for capturing acoustic noise below 20 Hz. Our group at NASA Langley Research Center developed and installed an infrasonic array at the Newport News-Williamsburg International Airport early in the year 2013. A pattern of pressure burst, high-coherence intervals, and diminishing-coherence intervals was observed for all takeoff and landing events without exception. The results of a phased microphone vs. linear infrasonic array comparison will be presented.

Measurements of wind noise reduction were conducted on a box-shaped, subsurface windscreen made of closed cell polyurethane foam. The windscreen was installed in the ground with the lid flush with the ground surface. The wind was generated by means of a fan, situated on the ground, and the wind speed was measured at the center of the windscreen lid with an ultrasonic anemometer. The wind speed was controlled by moving the fan to selected distances from the windscreen. The wind noise was measured on a PCB Piezotronics 3" electret microphone. Wind noise spectra were measured with the microphone exposed directly to the wind (atop the windscreen lid) and with the microphone installed inside the windscreen. The difference between the two spectra comprises the wind noise reduction. At wind speeds of 3, 5, and 7 m/s, the wind noise reduction is typically 15 dB over the frequency range 0.1-20 Hz.

An infrasonic field installation was set up at Newport News-Williamsburg International Airport in early 2013. The system is made up of three PCB 377M06 microphones installed into non-porous subsurface windscreens [POMA 1pNS9, 18, 040005 (2013)], which limit the bandwidth to 100 Hz. The microphones are placed 250 ft (76.2 m) orthogonal to the runway and 200 ft (60.96 m) apart. The data acquisition system is the B&K Pulse, from which time histories, spectra, and coherence between microphone channels are derived. The system is placed inside an instrumentation vehicle just behind the center microphone. Perforated drainage hoses are installed from the subsurface windscreens to adjacent drainage ditches and weight is added to the windscreens for additional stability. The drainage system has proved successful even on occasions of heavy downpour, revealing a truly all-weather system. A pistonphone calibration at 14 Hz in the field reveals that the three channels are matched to within 2 dB. This capability permits long-term monitoring of the health of the system. A sample time history of signals received from an aircraft takeoff will be presented.

Infrasonic emissions from aircraft wake vortices were investigated at the Newport News-Williamsburg International Airport early in the year 2013. Signals received by the microphones situated along an airport runway were processed in 10-s intervals. As an aircraft accelerates toward takeoff, it produces a large pressure burst as it passes each microphone. Following the burst, there appear low-frequency signals of high coherence among microphone pairs. These are interpreted as emissions from the aircraft wake vortices, as suggested by theory. In successive 10-s intervals, the coherence gradually diminishes to background levels, signifying the disappearance of the vortices. On landing the intervals of high coherence precede the bursts at aircraft touchdown, and then diminish. The pressure burst serves as a time stamp for the ensuing vortex emissions and thereby permits the tracking of successive takeoff or landing events on the same runway or on adjacent runways. The emission spectrum is essentially broadband, lacking spectral features (e.g., tones). Data were taken for takeoff of Airbus 319, DC-9, MD-88, CRJ, Lear Jet, Corporate Jet, and Dash-8 aircraft, and for landing of the Airbus 319. The pattern of pressure burst, high-coherence intervals, and diminishing-coherence intervals was observed for all takeoff and landing events without exception.

Clear air turbulence (CAT) is the leading cause of in-flight injuries and in severe cases can result in fatalities. The purpose of this work is to design and develop an infrasonic array network for early warning of clear air turbulence. The infrasonic system consists of an infrasonic three-microphone array, compact windscreens, and data management system. Past experimental efforts to detect acoustic emissions from CAT have been limited. An array of three infrasonic microphones, operating in the field at NASA Langley Research Center, on several occasions received signals interpreted as infrasonic emissions from CAT. Following comparison with current lidar and other past methods, the principle of operation, the experimental methods, and experimental data are presented for case studies and confirmed by pilot reports. The power spectral density of the received signals was found to fit a power law having an exponent of -6 to -7, which is found to be characteristics of infrasonic emissions from CAT, in contrast to findings of the past.

Spacecraft multilayer thermal insulation here to date has been used to reduce thermal radiation heat losses. Each layer is a thin layer of material, such as Mylar, coated with a reflective and electrically conductive material like aluminum. A method to create a wireless damage-detection array using the insulation has been developed. One layer of the insulation is designed as an array of passive open-circuit electrically conductive and reflective spiral patterns that are capable of storing electrical and magnetic energy when powered via an external oscillating magnetic field supplied by an antenna. Once electrically active, each pattern produces a harmonic magnetic field. No electrical connections are used between the patterns, on the patterns or to the patterns thereby allowing each pattern to be independent and also eliminating one cause of failure to circuits. The responding field frequency changes if any pattern is damaged. The spiral-pattern design provides sufficient area coverage for thermal insulation. Other insulation layers are designed to allow the responding magnetic fields to permeate the insulation layers. Arrays have been tested using hypervelocity impact projectiles of 1-3.6 mm diameter with speeds ranging from 6.7-7.1 km/s.

An array of three infrasonic microphones (0.2–20 Hz), operating continuously in the field at NASA Langley Research Center, on several occasions received a class of signals interpreted as infrasonic emissions from clear air turbulence. The presence and location of the turbulence were confirmed by pilot reports (PIREPS), and the direction of emitted signals toward the array was determined by slowness mapping. The coherence of the signals among the three microphone pairs in the array was close to unity. The amplitude spectrum of the received signals was found to fit a power law having an exponent of −7/2, which disagrees with the exponent of −7/4 of Meecham and Ford [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 30, 318–322 (1958)], based on turbulence self-noise and with the exponent of −1 of Meecham [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 33, 149–155 (1971)], based on mean shear fluctuations. Thus the above models do not account for the observed spectrum. Two case histories are described in detail.

A field test on a three-microphone array at NASA Langley Research Center was conducted using a mobile controlled infrasonic source. A Helmholtz resonator, used to provide a simulated point source for infrasonic propagation studies, had an output SPL of 99 dB (at 1 m) at its resonance frequency of 9.45 Hz. The three-microphone array was arranged as an equilateral triangle with microphone spacing of 30.48 m (100 ft) and at a distance of more than 85.3 m (280 ft) from the source. The signal level was 40 dB above the background noise in a 1-Hz band. Measurements of the acoustical response for each of the array microphones were recorded, and the received signal was measured at the nearest microphone to be 60 dB (6 dB per doubling of distance).

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) were synthesized via a novel chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique incorporating iron catalysts. Stable aqueous solutions of the nanotubes using the anionic surfactant sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate were also obtained, and the properties of as-produced SWNTs were documented through atomic force microscopy and Raman spectroscopy and compared with purified HiPCO SWNTs as a reference.

Crosstalk in electrostatic actuator calibrations is defined as the ratio of the microphone response to the actuator excitation voltage at a given frequency with the actuator polarization voltage turned off to the response, at the excitation frequency, with the polarization voltage turned on. It consequently contributes to the uncertainty of electrostatic actuator calibrations. Two sources of crosstalk are analyzed: the first attributed to the stray capacitance between the actuator electrode and the microphone backplate, and the second to the ground resistance appearing as a common element in the actuator excitation and microphone input loops. Measurements conducted on 1/4, 1/2, and 1 in. air condenser microphones reveal that the crosstalk has no frequency dependence up to the membrane resonance frequency and that the level of crosstalk lies at about −60 dB for all three microphones—conclusions that are consistent with theory. The measurements support the stray capacitance model. The contribution of crosstalk to the measurement standard uncertainty of an electrostatic actuator calibration is therewith 0.01 dB.

Abstract : In this project, quasi-static and flexible trailing edge devices and fins on airfoils were studied for lift enhancement in cruising flight and drag reduction and oscillation suppression in deep stall. The aerodynamics of a NACA0012 airfoil with a static extended trailing edge was studied systematically using a combination of experimental, computational and theoretical methods. Compared with Gurney flap and conventional flap, this device enhanced lift at a smaller drag penalty, indicating a good potential to improve the cruise flight efficiency. Furthermore, drag reduction and low-frequency oscillation suppression of a NACA0012 airfoil model in deep stall were achieved by using a flexible fin attached at a suitable location on the airfoil. Detailed measurements of the velocity fields and fin kinematics revealed the significant effects of the flexible fin on the development of the flow structures in the separated flow region and the physical mechanism of the natural low-frequency oscillation. The coupled computational fluid dynamics and structural dynamics methods were developed and computations were conducted to study the corresponding problems in the experimental studies. The theoretical models were also used to provide insights into the relevant aspects of the problems. The MEMS sensors and actuators embedded on flexible elements were developed and characterized for active flow control.

Slowness mapping is a method to estimate the angle of arrival of plane waves propagating across a sensor array. A review of time-delay estimation and its application to slowness vector estimation, the forward model, the inverse model, azimuth estimation, and elevation estimation will be presented. A method for performance grading with “out-of-bounds” conditions is described, and in the special case of subsurface acoustic sensors, a method for discriminating against seismic signals. The method has been applied to locate the direction of Space Shuttle and other rocket launches, infrasonic emissions from clear air turbulence, and incidental sources found in the environment.